I truly believe the actions you choose to take now can create an impact, influence, or investment towards your future. When I started my Social Media Detox Challenge, I rebuilt my healthy habits as a foundation for my mental health, well-being, and productivity. I’ll share how you can do the same!
I first learned about how our brains can only hold so much information all at once before we begin to forget the simple stuff from the book, The Checklist Manifesto. I highly recommend reading the book, but ultimately, it states that “under conditions of complexity, not only are checklists a help, they are required for success.
When creating routines out of our habits, we can easily forget some of the steps because our minds are typically occupied with other things in life. The book recommends having a checklist because it “gets the dumb stuff out of the way, [especially] the routines your brain shouldn’t have to occupy itself with.”
Because I’m not typically a morning person, having a slow morning allows me to wake up through simple but energizing actions. From freshening up to making coffee every morning, and from writing at least 750 words for morning pages to gratitude journaling, I become more focused for the rest of the day ahead.
To help me through all of my habits, I use Fabulous - a mobile app that helps you build better habits. (Note: This is not an affiliate or sponsored blog. I truly wanted to share this app with you.)
Although I have issues with the app sending too many notifications and the lack of valuable insights from my habit logs, the fact that it allows me to create and use a checklist for my morning, afternoon, and evening routines has given me huge value for the day!
The Apps are Not the Answer, ChecKlists are
You don’t have to use the Fabulous mobile app to help you with your routines, but if you’re serious about building mindful and productive habits, I highly recommend using your planner, notebook, Notion dashboard, or even a piece of paper to create a checklist. Your brain will have more room to focus on more important things.
What habit(s) do you want to stick with? What will you use to create your checklist?